Getting a Job – How to Stand Out from the Crowd

Attention to Detail

The job market is
highly competitive and acknowledging these pointers will help to put you ahead
of other applicants who may be vying for the same positions and land you a job
you love!

Landing a new job
requires some significant effort and determination. Even for highly qualified applicants, putting in
time and effort is a must and really pays off. Spending some time checking your CV or
application for errors is very important as it reduces the potential for silly
mistakes that can mean the difference between you getting an interview or not. Remember, a CV, cover letter and/or an
application is a potential employer’s first impression of you! Don’t forget to check that your CV is up to
date too.

Harvey at Malvern Town Football Club

Cover Letters are Important

On many job sites
that you can upload your CV to there is often the option of adding a cover
letter. You can simply fire off your CV
to an employer advertising a vacancy but the cover letter allows you to add a
personal level to your application and demonstrates that you have put time and
effort into completing it. You can
emphasis any skills or experience you know are important for that particular
role, which again will show that you have read the job details thoroughly and
can relate job requirements back to your own skills and experience. This is a
skill in itself. You can also detail
things like; the reason why you want to work for that company or explain a gap
in employment due to bringing up family or recovering from illness.

Follow Every Instruction on the Application

Regardless of how
mundane the question is, it is important that you read the questions carefully
and follow them. It can be that the
hiring manager wants to check applicants ability to follow direction, and also
if you are offered the job, that you are able to effectively work to
instruction.

Online Assessments

A growing trend is to
put some sort of assessment online. Some online applications require you to
complete a multiple choice assessment at the start, successfully completing it
allows you to carry on and enter your personal details. As an example, a client recently responded to
a vacancy that required applicants to calculate the change a customer should
receive, the choice was 3 incorrect answers or the option to select “none of
the above”. The purpose of this
questions was to check numeracy and also attention to detail.

Most assessments are straight
forward and if you have some experience in that career area, you should not
have too much difficulty in answering them. Reading the questions and answers carefully is
the key, so your answer is what the employer wants to see and is also a reflection
of yourself.